Ejaculatory abstinence in semen analysis: does it make any sense?

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Endocrinology
• Andrology
• Human Fertility Studies

Background:

• The impact of ejaculatory abstinence duration on semen quality is debated, particularly for subfertile men.
• Previous research on abstinence periods and semen parameters has yielded conflicting outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrospectively analyze semen parameter variations across different ejaculatory abstinence durations.
• To compare outcomes in normozoospermic and oligozoospermic Tamil men attending a fertility clinic.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 2037 semen analysis reports.
• Patients grouped by abstinence periods: <24h, 1-2 days, 3-7 days, 8-15 days, 16-30 days, >30 days.
• Semen parameters assessed per WHO (2010) guidelines; statistical analysis using t-tests and ANOVA with Games-Howell post hoc test (p<0.05 significance).

Main Results:

• No significant differences in sperm concentration, progressive motility, or morphology across abstinence groups for both normozoospermic and oligozoospermic men.
• Semen volume showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.0001) across groups.
• Abstinence <24 hours yielded the highest mean progressive motility and normal morphology in both patient groups.

Conclusions:

• Ejaculatory abstinence recommendations (e.g., WHO's 2-7 days) may be overly conservative and could be liberalized.
• Semen parameters after <24 hours of abstinence are non-inferior to those after longer intervals.
• Consider collecting semen samples upon arrival for infertility evaluation, irrespective of recent abstinence duration.